{"id":599,"date":"2012-07-20T23:09:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T23:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/second-mandate-lawsuit-dismissed-on-technical-grounds\/"},"modified":"2012-07-20T23:09:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T23:09:00","slug":"second-mandate-lawsuit-dismissed-on-technical-grounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/07\/second-mandate-lawsuit-dismissed-on-technical-grounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Second mandate lawsuit dismissed on ‘technical grounds’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2012 \/ 05:09 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit by Belmont Abbey College against the federal contraception mandate as being premature.<\/p>\n

\tHannah Smith, senior legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which was representing Belmont Abbey College in the case, said that the decision was made \u201con technical grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSmith explained in a statement that \u201cthe judge thinks that the case should be delayed for a matter of months\u201d in order to give the federal government time to \u201cfix\u201d the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tOn July 18, federal judge James E. Boasberg dismissed the suit filed by the Catholic liberal arts school last year. The suit is the second of the nearly two dozen cases against the mandate to be thrown out.<\/p>\n

\tThe judge determined that the case was not yet \u201cripe for decision\u201d because the concerns were still too \u201cspeculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe noted that the federal government has indicated that it intends to issue future rules on the implementation of the mandate being challenged in the case.<\/p>\n

\tThat mandate \u2013 issued under the authority of the Affordable Care Act \u2013 will soon require employers and colleges to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their firmly-held religious convictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tBelmont Abbey filed a lawsuit arguing that the mandate violated its religious freedom last November, becoming the first group to do so. Dozens of other organizations followed in the college\u2019s footsteps over the months that followed.<\/p>\n

\tIn total, 23 lawsuits have been filed by more than 50 plaintiffs, including schools, charitable agencies, states, dioceses and private business owners.<\/p>\n

\tOn July 17, a judge in Nebraska dismissed another of the lawsuits, similarly ruling that it was not clear that the plaintiffs would suffer immediate harm from the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tIn both decisions, the judges pointed to the administration\u2019s promise to \u201caccommodate\u201d the religious freedom concerns of objecting groups.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, critics have voiced concern about whether the \u201caccommodation\u201d will be sufficient. They have noted that the mandate was finalized in law months ago, but the accommodation has merely been promised and not placed in law or even formally proposed.<\/p>\n

\tSmith emphasized that this ruling \u201csays nothing about the merits of Belmont Abbey\u2019s religious freedom claims, and has no effect on any of the 22 other cases currently pending in federal court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt simply delays Belmont Abbey College\u2019s ability to challenge the Mandate for a few months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\tSmith stressed that \u201cthe court made clear we have the right to re-file the case\u201d if concerns with the mandate are not adequately addressed.<\/p>\n

\tWhile she said that the group is currently \u201cconsidering our options,\u201d Smith made it clear that the battle for religious freedom was not over.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBelmont Abbey College and the Becket Fund will continue the fight for religious liberty, even if this case is delayed for a few months,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2012 \/ 05:09 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit by Belmont Abbey College against the federal contraception mandate as being premature.<\/p>\n

\tHannah Smith, senior legal counsel at the Be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nSecond mandate lawsuit dismissed on 'technical grounds'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jul 20, 2012 \/ 05:09 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has dismissed a lawsuit by Belmont Abbey College against the federal contraception mandate as being premature. 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